Oklahoma City – Sulphur banker and former Oklahoma state representative Wes Hilliard was elected chair at the September meeting of the Commission for Rehabilitation Services.
Oklahoma House of Representatives Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, appointed Commissioner Hilliard to the Commission in July 2019.
The Commission governs the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services. The agency annually serves nearly 83,000 Oklahomans with disabilities through employment, independent living and educational programs, and the determination of medical eligibility for disability benefits.
“It is honor to serve as chair for an agency I have admired since my days in the Legislature,” Commissioner Hilliard said. “Of course, Oklahoma School for the Deaf, which is a DRS division, has a special place in my heart because it is located in my hometown of Sulphur.”
“DRS has responded to challenges in 2020 by consistently providing the same level of outstanding services to Oklahomans with disabilities,” Hilliard said. “Our doors are open, and we are serving people online and in person to help them achieve their goals and become successful, taxpaying citizens.”
Commissioner Hilliard is community bank president at Simmons Bank in Sulphur and Davis. He served in the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 2004 to 2012.
He and his wife Melissa have three children, Weston, age 11, Jaxson, 8 and Blake, 2.
Theresa Flannery was elected Commission vice chair. She is senior director of social services for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City.
Edmond audiologist Jace Wolfe, Ph.D., who was the previous chair, will serve as a Commission member. He is director of audiology and research at the Hearts for Hearing Foundation in Oklahoma City.
For more information about the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services, visit www.okdrs.gov or phone 800-845-8476.
Wes Hilliard from Sulphur is the new chair of the Commission for Rehabilitation Services, which governs the Oklahoma Department of Rehabilitation Services.
